Updated 7.07pm with Labour Party statement.
The Nationalist Party said on Wednesday that it agreed with the government on the nomination of retired judge Joseph Zammit McKeon to serve as Ombudsman, but it said talks need to continue on the appointment of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life.
The Labour Party, meanwhile, accused PN leader Bernard Grech of backtracking - or being forced to backtrack - after having given his word on the nomination of former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi to become Standards Commssioner.
The PN parliamentary group in a statement that it expected the government on Monday to move a motion in parliament to nominate Zammit McKeon as Ombudsman. The appointment is made by the President following a motion supported by two-thirds of the Members of the House,
The PN group said it had discussed the nomination of the new standards commissioner, and it was disappointed that the prime minister 'is not ready' to reach agreement. It hoped the prime minister would be ready to discuss the nomination of a person who could be supported by both sides of the House.
Bernard Grech has gone back on his word - PL
The Labour Party said that during talks on the nominations, Grech had agreed with a proposal by the prime minister for retired chief justice Joseph Azzopardi to be nominated standards commissioner, along with Zammit McKeon's nomination as Ombudsman. The latter's nomination was proposed by the leader of the opposition months ago.
"The Leader of the Opposition has gone back on is word. The Opposition has a very mistaken idea of democracy and seems to think that will should prevail all the time. There is no valid reason wy the nomination of a former judge should be acceptable, and that of a former chief justice should not," the PL said.
Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon will succeed Anthony Mifsud, whose term expired more than a year ago.
The Office of the Standards Commissioner became vacant in September when the incumbent, George Hyzler, took up a new position as a member of the EU's Court of Auditors.